


Time to Kill

by catchmeifyoucreon



Series: Supernatural Shorts [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Afterlife, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Purgatory, Reunions, Women of Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 08:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catchmeifyoucreon/pseuds/catchmeifyoucreon
Summary: Ruby stumbles upon a surprise in Purgatory. Unlike most surprises in Purgatory, this one doesn't immediately try to kill her.





	Time to Kill

**Author's Note:**

> This is repost, with minor edits, from my Tumblr; you can see the original [here](http://nyebevans.tumblr.com/post/42043058792/time-to-kill-megruby).

It was a warm day, for Purgatory. The wind still slapped her cheeks raw and the cold shadows still loomed, threatening the tiny sliver of warmth in which she rocked herself back and forth, sheltered by a group of thick bushes, but she was thankful at least for the lack of rain. It was the first time in what felt like years that the rain had finally stopped its assault.

Ruby rubbed her hands together and licked her chapped lips. She recoiled at the taste of blood, unbalancing herself. She threw out a hand to keep herself from toppling over, using the other hand to scrub at her face.

Then, she heard the snap.

Whatever Ruby had once been and could no longer be, she still had sharp wits. Purgatory had not quite robbed her of those. She kept silent and still, eyes scouting the area. Where had that noise come from? Most importantly, what had made it?

Another snap, and Ruby’s gaze flew to the left. She found only empty space. In Purgatory, that was usually a good thing, but unexplained noises were decidedly not. The last time she’d heard something she couldn't immediately pick out, she’d found herself face to face – well, something almost like a face, at any rate – with Lilith. The woman to whom she’d pledged her allegiance, in another death. Not a human woman at all, of course, especially not  _here_.

Ruby shook her head. She’d escaped that, barely: what was the use in torturing herself with the memories, even if she could never truly forget?

She flinched as yet another quick snap echoed through the woods. This time, after a fruitless scan of the ground around her, she looked up.

And promptly fell backwards, arms giving out from under her. “ _No!_ ” The word escaped her in a rush of breath. It couldn't be. It just _couldn't_ be -

“Quiet there, dollface,” the voice from the trees matched the speaker’s form with a crushing familiarity. “Don’t want the whole lot of 'em to know I’ve popped my clogs.”

In the trees sat Meg, cracking thin twigs between her fingers and grinning down at Ruby like a predator. As if she was about to eat her alive.

Ruby lay among the leaves on the forest floor, dazed. She knew that she had to get up, that she had to fight, but it was _Meg_. _  
_

Meg had dropped the twigs and was swinging from the branch she’d been sitting on. She raised an eyebrow at Ruby, that predatory smirk fixed in place.

“You gonna give a girl a hand, here?”

Ruby couldn’t reply, but she found herself scrambling upright, rushing over to the tree and scrambling up to give Meg her hand. She could almost believe that what she touched was real skin.

On the ground, she checked nervously to see if they’d attracted attention. Her shoulders sagged as she saw nothing. There was nothing but Meg, the sound of Meg’s soft, hitching breaths and the weight of the space between them that Ruby wasn’t sure she could shift alone.

“Meg. You – you’re –”

“Dead, yeah. I already figured that much, Captain Obvious.”

“How?” Ruby didn’t want Meg to be there. She didn't want any of this: she didn’t want Meg to be dead for good, to be stuck here in the brutal wasteland of Purgatory. She didn't want for them to be pitted against each other yet again. It wasn't just the thought of losing a fight with Meg; something told Ruby that winning would be far worse.

“Crowley,” Meg said, shrugging in answer to the question Ruby had half-forgotten she'd asked. “Always knew he’d get bored of having me around one day.”

Ruby stared. There was so much she didn’t know, and so much she wasn’t even sure if she could handle knowing. It was a reminder of another world: one to which she couldn’t return.

“Hey,” Meg said. “Y'know I’m not that bothered, right? We don’t have to talk feelings.”

“When have we ever?” Ruby asked. Meg smirked as if Ruby had made a good joke, and then stopped when she caught the tail end of Ruby’s pain flashing down through her face.

“Look,” said Meg, and she took a step closer. The space shifted, just a tiny bit, and then closed over both of them. “I looked for you. Ruby. The minute I got here, I was looking. I  _found_  you.”

“I was hiding,” said Ruby. “Maybe I didn’t want to be found.”

“You haven’t made a break for it, yet,” Meg pointed out. Ruby tried to pull her gaze away, but Meg caught her arm and tugged. For a brief flash, it felt like flesh on flesh, like carnal knowledge and human desire. Meg didn’t let go.

“Ruby,” she said, head dipping low, eyelashes fluttering up. Ruby closed her eyes, took a deep breath that couldn’t hope to satisfy her lungs. When she looked again, Meg was still there, those piercing dark eyes fixed on Ruby's face. “I want you to know, Ruby. You want me gone, I'll go right now. Just say the word. But... you want me to stick around, I’m not going anywhere. We’ve got time to kill.”

The glint in her eyes wasn’t lost on Ruby.  _Time to kill._

She liked the sound of that.


End file.
